McGuinness happy with solid weekend’s work

John McGuinness on his way to second in the International Gold Cup. Picture: Mark Walters

Published:10:47Monday 15 September 2014

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John McGuinness was back with his Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Honda team at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough over the weekend and the Morecambe ace made sure it was a successful reunion.

The Morecambe Missile picked up three top-four finishes on the Superstock Fireblade around the tricky woodland circuit with the highlight an excellent second place in the feature International Gold Cup race.

Having his first outing on modern machinery since the Senior TT in June, McGuinness improved his pace throughout the weekend.

Saturday’s Superbike race was his first outing and starting from the second row of the grid, McGuinness was back in fifth at the end of lap one but overtook Brian Greenfield on lap three and moved up to third a lap later when Lee Johnston retired.

Ivan Lintin went on to win the race with the Morecambe ace crossing the line at the end of the eight laps in a solid third.

Sunday’s action got underway with the second leg of the Superbikes with McGuinness again on the second row and although he was back in fifth at the end of the first lap, he was soon on the rear wheel of Daley Mathison and battling for the final podium position.

Try as he might though, he was unable to find a way through and with a lack of rear grip in the closing stages, had to ease his pace and settle for fourth.

That left the feature event of the weekend, the International Gold Cup race, and a better qualifying performance put McGuinness on the front row of the grid where he was much better placed to challenge Lintin who came into the race with five victories from his six rides over the two days.

The Lincolnshire rider wasn’t going to be denied though and although McGuinness kept him on his toes, he eventually had to settle for second.

He said: “My wrist is getting better all the time but the bottom line is that I’ve done hardly any racing this year and I’m way behind everyone else in terms of fitness and being race sharp.

“I wanted to be competitive this weekend and although it was tough going to begin with, I’ve quickened my pace with each and every outing.

“I’m happy enough. I gave it a real good go in each race and set my fastest lap of the weekend in the Gold Cup race but there was no stopping Ivan.”

McGuinness’ next outing will be at the Stars at Darley meeting at Darley Moor on Sunday, October 12.